Draft-Day Disaster?

The Titans drafted ten players this weekend. The reviews: Gigli-esque.

Mel Kiper: C- (worst grade handed out)
John Czarnecki: C (note the helmet)
Pete Prisco: C (pretty consistent, eh?)

Here are the picks, with my quality commentary:

1. Michael Griffin, S Texas: He played free safety at Texas, which is a need position. While he should help in many areas, including special teams, he was a second-round guy. Future picks show how Griffin will be needed.

2. Chris Henry, RB Arizona: The Titans must love him. Not a performer in college, but has nice measureables. The last combine wonder who moved up this far was Matt Jones. I think the Titans need another RB unless Quinton Ganther is going to make the roster. Could he be the next Trung Canidate?

3. Paul Williams, WR Fresno State: Solid WR with deep speed. He battled through injuries last fall. I’m not sure if he’s going to immediately contribute.

4. Leroy Harris, C NCSU: Kevin Mawae’s eventual replacement? Scouting reports say that he’s an eventual backup. A center never gets your fan base excited. Kind of like drafting a safety in the first round.

5. Chris Davis, WR FSU: Could be the punt returner and a possible future slot guy. I guess Jonathan Orr better rent, not buy. He’s compared to Derrick Mason. Mason didn’t turn into a star until his fourth year. Davis may not last that long in the league.

6. Antonio Johnson, DL Miss St: He gets the “M” for mental flag at espn.com. If a guy only starts five games at Mississippi State, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that he’s not that good. Ideal size and agility be damned.

7. Joel Filani, WR Texas Tech: Here’s another productive wideout who may or may not contribute. You can say bye-bye to at least one of the 2004 WR class.

8. Jacob Ford, DE Central Arkansas: He’s a small-school DE who might have to transition to OLB due to lack of size. I don’t think Kyle Vandenbosch is breathing much easier.

9. Ryan Smith, CB Florida: Well, the last late-round flier on a Florida CB worked out well. He has fluid hips. I prefer bone.

10. Mike Otto, OT Purdue: He’s an OT. He went to Purdue. His signing bonus won’t be large. He did start 50 games in college, which might beat the rest of the draft class combined.

I was a big fan of the Atari 2600 basketball game. What made the game fun was that when the computer got behind, it played angry, and much faster. That’s how I feel about the Patriots’ zealot free agency spendathon. They continued the insanity by picking up Randy Moss in an astute draft-day trade. Hmm, I wonder if the Titans have heard of this concept. Anyway, if you owned Randy Moss in any fantasy league last year, you are quite dubious about the prospect of him coming “back.” I actually traded a draft pick for him last year. No WR will perform well when your team throws six total touchdowns, as the Raiders did last year. Moss’s lax attitude didn’t help.

Moss averaged 87.5 catches a year in his first six seasons. In his past three seasons, he’s averaged 50. Any guy who exceeds 10,000 career yards before his 30th birthday is impressive. It’s the precipitous drop in production that’s startling. Maybe Moss turns around his attitude a la Corey Dillon. For the Pats, who were one near-perfect half from the Colts from winning the Super Bowl, the move was a no-brainer. I can’t wait to razz my Pats buddy who takes these things way too seriously.